Well, there was a lull there in my racing. There wasn't a lot of local races and I was preparing to peak for a series of races in Wisconsin called Superweek. I went up for 5 days of racing and had a great time up there. I was living the good life of a full time bike racer. Wake up, eat, race, eat, watch racing, eat, sleep, repeat! For 5 days in a row! I was also sleeping on an air mattress and co-habitating w/ 7 other people in the basement of a host house! Here are some recaps of the races. All of the races were Cat 3/4, and there were some REALLY strong 3's racing, so it was challenging to say the least. I did learn a LOT and gained tons of fitness. Overall an awesome experience!
7/23/08
Whitnall Park Road Race:
Course was a 2.3 mile circuit – approx a 30 mile race. The back side had two false flats and a hill to the finish. Hill was 5-6% grade. The hill wasn’t too bad if you could get some momentum going into the corner before the hill. I had to work very hard to stay with some of the accelerations, particularly on the hill! And the 30 mile race was definitely longer than I was used to. The last few laps were rough. I stayed with it though and Siobhan helped me get in a good position on the last lap and actually tried to lead me out a little on the hill, but I couldn’t match her acceleration and my legs died. I didn’t even contest the sprint – my legs were spent and the main pack pulled away from me very quickly. I Finished 22nd out of 37.
7/24/08
Racine, WI
Course was a 0.78 mile loop with 4 corners – approx 30 miles. A very flat course and VERY bad pavement section on the back side. Our field was again very strong. Lots of attacks and counter attacks. I actually attacked once and got away from the field on my own for approx ¾ of a lap. I went hard, but Shioban said it was a good attack. I think I caught a lot of people off guard. I attacked going into the 2nd corner. Unfortunately once they caught me they sat on and wouldn’t go around me until I slowed WAY down. Then, someone counter attacked HARD. I fell to the back of the field as I was still recovering, but I managed to hang on. After that effort everyone chilled out a couple of laps and we all got some recovery time. It was a constant struggle for position. Just as I would get to the top 5 -10, it would slow and then everyone would go around the outside and box me in. It was a little frustrating. I need to work on staying up front and stay there. It is SO much easier in the front. Easier to go into the corners and less yo-yo action. Goal tomorrow is to stay closer to the front! Finished 21st out of approx 37.
7/25/08
Chase Food Folks & Spokes
Kenosha, WI
The course was a very flat and fast 0.6 mile loop w/ 4 corners and a headwind into the finish. We raced 50 laps – approx 30 miles. The race was again very aggressive. I tried to position myself closer to the front from the beginning of the race and be very aware of my position and be aggressive about holding it. I actually tried to use Rae’s wheel much of the race and that was helpful. After a couple of attacks I found myself towards the back of the pack and quickly realized that I did not want to be there. The whole race I continued to work on moving up. I got back up toward the front which was good b/c there was a girl off the front and a series of attacks and counter attacks started (probably 5 in a row!). I stayed with it. Then, I was approx 5th wheel at one point and someone attacked hard. I went after them and then ended up on the front. I thought that they were behind me and I was ok doing some work, but I looked back and realized they let me walk away. I found out that they let me go b/c Rae and Siobann told the lead girls that I wouldn’t be a threat – too bad someone couldn’t bridge to me or that there wasn’t 27 laps to go! I looked back and realized I was gapped from the field by 15+ sec. I decided to put my head down and just try to hold a steady pace and see how long I could stay out w/o blowing up completely. I ended up out there on my own for 5-6 laps! It was a crazy feeling w/ that giant field behind me. Eventually they swallowed me up and I tried to recover as I saw them coming b/c I knew the attack would come…and it did. I fell back towards the back of the pack for a couple of laps and recovered, but moved back up. Then, with 2 to go, there was a crash on the back side of the course. I narrowly avoided running over Rhionan and then had to chase hard to get back in the group. The pace picked up and the field strung out and I had a really hard time moving up for the final sprint. I just jumped on someone’s wheel and did my best to sprint around her in the final 100 meters. I had a lot more left in my legs than I expected. I wish I could have been in a better position, b/c I think I would have placed top 10 if it weren’t for that last lap. I should have just put myself out in the wind for a better position. Oh well. I ended up in 20th.
7/26/08
Downer’s Ave Crit
0.8 mile course * 20 laps = 16 miles
The course was very flat, triangle shaped with 4 corners and a long front and back stretch. It was again littered with bad spots in the road, so you had to watch you didn’t get your wheel caught in something bad. The worst part was turn 2 where there was some uneven pavement going right into one of the sharpest turns on the course. Our race was supposed to be 25 laps, but was shortened to 20. I knew it would be aggressive w/ such a short race. I again was trying to stay closer to the front, and I did for a few laps until someone attacked and I ended up too far back. As the counter attacks started, and I was with the sketchy cornering in the back of the pack, I found my self in a very bad position. There were 7 off the front, a chase group up the road of about 4-6, and my group which was basically the rest of the field. The chase group was probably 15 seconds in front of our group and I quickly realized that our group was not going to organize well enough to catch them. I was going to be sprinting for 14th place if I didn’t do something about it. So, on the back stretch I attacked out of the pack for a bridge to the chase group. I pulled WAY out of the pack b/c I didn’t want to pull the whole group w/ me. Only one other girl jumped and followed, we left the rest behind. It was HARD. I sprinted about 200 meters and then sat down and hammered until I caught them – right after turn 4. It took a while to recover from that, but Im SO glad I did it. Our group was able to stay out from the main pack, and ended up lapping the field toward the end of the race, but we never did catch the break away. They were probably 35+ seconds off the front by the end of the race. There were a few accelerations in our group, but nothing too bad. When we lapped the field, Rae jumped back in and offered to help me position myself toward the front. It was a big help. I ended up about 5th or 6th wheel going into the final turn to the finish. I really should have jumped when the DePaw girl did right before turn 3 and stayed on her wheel. She stayed out front and took the pack sprint. I was 7th in the pack sprint and ended up in 14th! I was excited about that. Learning lots and getting more in the Cat 3 mind set!
7/27/08
Whitefish Bay Classic
Whitefish Bay, WI
0.8 mile course * 20 laps = 16 miles (shortened race)
The course was 4 corners and the 3rd corner had a median right in the turn, so you could not swing to the outside too much and then it jogged to the right before the 4th corner. There was a very strong headwind into the start/finish (worse than yesterday). The pavement was ok, not horrible, but not super smooth. The field was much smaller, only 21 riders. Overall the pace was slower than the other races. The strong Cat3's had all gone to Chicago to race for the big money! When attacks came, I chassed or followed the surge, but my legs were not happy about it. They seemed a bit fatigued today. Overall I did not feel fatigued, but my legs just weren’t opening up. A couple of times a single rider got off the front, but I did not feel I had the legs to bridge and work w/ them. They both eventually wore out in the wind and came back to the group. I did not attack the whole race until the final lap. I jumped WAY too early (right before corner 2), but I wanted to go into corner 3 in front. I didn’t jump hard enough, b/c, though strung out, the field was behind me going into corner 3 and I knew my sprint was not going to be what I wanted. I think I kind of slowed up at that point and I should have just kept my head down and pushed as hard as I could. As a few girls went around me after corner 4 for the sprint, I tried to catch a couple different wheels. However, my legs were still dead and I think my gearing was off (too big a gear). Anyway, I should have let someone else do the work that last lap, but its always good to test your body!
Thats about it. After that I drove the 6+ hrs home and was SO glad to finally sleep in my own bed! Next race is the Jeff City State Championship crit!
